Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Traditional Maps

Things have been busy today, what with people coming in and out and getting ready for job interviews, so the gentle reader will have to make do with a map. I prepared this ahead of time, knowing that there'd come a day when posting was difficult, just so there'd be something special about it.

We begin with an ordinary, nothing new map from me, in this case of the eastern Alps and the northern Balkans. It shares all the characteristics of most of my maps, being based on elevation, with notes for the feet above sea level and for small numbers next to the rivers to give a note as to their size.

But just for fun, let's render the map again, emphasizing the borders of the kingdoms, and getting rid of the many notations I usually add. This should look pretty much like maps you saw in schools. I want to emphasize that this is the same map, showing very nearly the same part of the world. The yellow is Hungary, the green the Ottoman Empire, the purple is the Hapsburg Empire, the little bit of pink at the top is Bohemia and the brown at the bottom is part of Venice. There is a small dark blue area, the Bishopric of Friesing (it got cut off in the format change), which is under the suzerainty of Bavaria. The light blue area is obviously the sea - the Adriatic Sea.

Additional Content

Began playing Dungeons and Dragons at the age of 15, thirty-eight years ago. I am a steadfast AD&D gamer, but I have made so many changes to the original system that my present model is something of a Frankenstein's monster of role-playing design. I continue to make new changes every day to my game's structure and function.

The Net has described me as a 'mad scientist of RPG blogging,' and a 'Quixotic bastard' ... and also 'the most gonzo - and the grouchiest - old school DM.'

Progress on The Fifth Man

I have chosen to back up a bit again, as I am unhappy with chapter 17 and I feel ready to start it again. It is a difficult chapter; exposition chapters always are. It has been too long since I've picked up this book; readers are hardly likely to notice that I've changed this description. Nevertheless, I am at this again.

Progress on the third draft, finalized (will likely be some continuity fixes) stand as follows:

May 9, 2018

Distance today: 1,025 words

Total distance: 73,517

Chapter in progress: 17

Please Support Me

Writing the book takes its toll, particularly as I am just another grunt working for minimum wage in the real world. Every donation helps me have time where I am not performing physical labor and I can put my energy towards the things that you, the reader, likes.